Brooks Flyer S for stoker

Bought a Brooks Flyer S for my wife. Rode 9 miles Saturday - and she pretty much hates it. She says it's way to slick. Should I even consider encouraging her to try it again (she wants to) or just suggest she go back to her old saddle. She was okay with the old saddle, I was just trying to get her a bit of a "cushion" for the bumps I occasionally miss calling.

Bought a Brooks Flyer S for my wife. Rode 9 miles Saturday - and she pretty much hates it. She says it's way to slick. Should I even consider encouraging her to try it again (she wants to) or just suggest she go back to her old saddle. She was okay with the old saddle, I was just trying to get her a bit of a "cushion" for the bumps I occasionally miss calling.

marc

Did you (or she) put Proofhide on the top surface? The instructions are to put it on the underside, and put a very light coat on the surface. My wife has had a Brooks B17S for maybe 3 weeks now, and the first ride she found it too slippery; the second ride she put no fresh proofhide on the top but it was still slippery. The third ride she wore different shorts and it was fine. Eventually she cycled round to the first shorts, by which time they'd had the proofhide laundered out of them, and still not a problem.

Putting some on the top does help with break-in. But apparently it is sufficient to do it only very lightly, let it stand overnight, wipe it off (well), and do it only once.

Proofride or not the Brooks is slippery when you first ride it. I was sliding all over my new brooks when I got it and I didn't apply the Proofride until a hundred miles or so. 9 miles is hardly enough for a Brooks to be evaluated, it takes time to truly love or hate them. I stopped sliding around after the third ride or so, maybe 50 miles? I wouldn't give up on the Brooks until at least a few rides and some additional miles.

Try a search on Brooks saddles in the touring forums on this site and you will find lots of opinions on the breaking in and use of the Brooks saddle, the touring folks seem to be heavy Brooks users.

Our brooks saddles started out slippery and very hard. I agree with all the advice posted here. Proofride does soften them and makes the saddles less slippery. Once the saddles warm up and get a little damp from riding they really do feel different. All this aside, brooks makes many saddle shapes, If you get one that fits your anatomy, it should work well. If not, well, you'll need to change. For what it's worth, I'd give it a few more long rides.
Cheers, Joe

Just a update, did the damp wash cloth on the saddle before our last ride. We did 30 miles and the stoker was MUCH happier. Lowered the saddle a bit also which seemed to help. It did seem that the moisture of the wash cloth "softened" the slick on the saddle. She said she could still slide a bit - but when she wanted, which she liked.